Brandtone received an award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pilot a mobile enabled family planning solution.

Brandtone hopes to deliver user engagement and insights to advance the foundation’s goal of increasing voluntary access to a range of family planning options for an additional 120 million women by 2020, with an ultimate vision of universal access. Brandtone will use its state-of-the art mobile marketing platform to empower women in developing markets by supporting the use of family planning solutions as one of the most effective ways of breaking the cycle of poverty.

Brandtone will begin by supporting a family planning initiative in Nigeria, which will see the introduction of an all-in-one 3-month injectable contraceptive in to the market. Brandtone is working with DKT and UCSF, to understand who chooses to use the product.

Using Brandtone’s platform it will be possible to reach these women at scale via their mobile phones, with their explicit permission to engage and re-contact, and always in the context of ensuring informed choice and the awareness of alternative contraception choices.

The pilot will provide evidence and learning on the roll-out of an all-in-one 3-month injectable contraceptive in Nigeria. It will provide real-time insight into the delivery process and the experience of both the providers and users of the contraceptive. It will also educate women and adolescents on a broader range of contraceptive options. This increased insight into the delivery and use of contraceptive and education of women on the choices available to them will support the Family Planning community in achieving their goals of expanding access within and beyond this programme.

This agreement marks the latest in a series of high-profile partnerships for Brandtone, with global organizations working in the world’s fastest-growing and most populous markets, and is an important milestone as the Company enters into the healthcare sector.

Donald Fitzmaurice, Chief Executive, Brandtone said: “We are honoured to be working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support their objective of lifting the poorest families out of poverty by providing access - without coercion or discrimination - to family planning solutions. This is known to be one of the most effective ways of breaking the cycle of poverty.”

He added: “It is Brandtone’s aim to enable the provision of mobile-first and data-led healthcare to 1-in-10 families in the developing and emerging markets by 2020 and this represents an important milestone on this journey.”